Successful painting and decorating company, Costa Decoration Ltd, features in a new Painting and Decorating Association (PDA) case study, after sharing their experience of dealing with a client who decided not to pay.
Costa and partner Samantha initially worked with an endorsement scheme to try and resolve the complaint, but eventually turned to the PDA and the Association’s legal insurance partner, Markel.
It took eight months to resolve the issue, during which time, Sam was asked by the endorsement organisation and the Ombudsman, to provide reams of evidence to demonstrate the quality of the work undertaken, as well as having to submit appeals to review websites when negative posts from the client started to appear.
Sam said: “If we hadn’t had Markel and Neil at the PDA to call on, I wouldn’t have known what to do.
“We knew there was nothing wrong with the work, but the client first complained to our endorsement scheme, and then escalated the complaint to the Ombudsman.
“As a result of taking this one job, we had eight horribly stressful months – but what I learned was that the PDA was there when we needed them.”
With one-to-one support from PDA Chief Executive Neil Ogilvie and legal advice from Markel, Sam was able to navigate the complaints process – and when she rejected a decision by the Ombudsman, PDA and Markel were on hand then too.
Sam added: “If I’d gone straight to the PDA, I think the situation would have been dealt with very quickly.
“We’ve now changed our complaints policy and advise our clients to access the PDA mediation service if they feel they have any issues.
“The client can choose the arbitration they want to go with, but by signposting them to PDA hopefully they will choose that option and we can be assured of independent arbitration with industry experts backed by the legal support provided by Markel, which is all free as its included in our membership fee.”
The partnership deal between the PDA and specialist insurance, tax and legal firm, Markel, saved PDA members around £54,600 in 2023.
Nicola Sumner, Divisional Director – Partnerships – Markel (UK) said: “Markel are delighted to be supporting PDA members with combination of access to our business hub and telephone advice lines, as well as the protection of Markel’s legal expenses insurance.”
Markel provides free access to their business hub and legal helpline, offering 24-hour support to PDA members, alongside Markel’s insurance cover, which can be accessed if a customer dispute cannot be resolved by the PDA’s impartial mediation and arbitration service.
Chief Executive of the PDA, Neil Ogilvie said: “Our role is to support our members, whether that’s working with partners to bring them the latest industry news or providing one-to-one support when issues arise.
“Costa Decoration Ltd are long-standing PDA members who had swathes of evidence to back up the quality of the work provided.
“We always advise our members to come to us first – our free mediation and arbitration service is an invaluable tool in helping settle issues with non-paying clients and is backed by our partnership with Markel.
“And even if your client chooses a different channel to lodge their concerns, we can offer support and advice at every stage.
“The PDA is here to help protect you and your business when you need us – why choose anyone else?”
The Costa Decoration Ltd case study is available to view now at: PDA-Costa-Decoration-Case-Study.pdf (paintingdecoratingassociation.co.uk)
Apply to join the PDA at: www.paintingdecoratingassociation.co.uk
